Houston City Council gives Metro green light on 5 rail lines

Metro gets the green light on 5 rail linesWith 2 dissenters, council OKs deal that would rethink route on Wheeler

RAD SALLEE, Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, June 19, 2008

City Council approved an agreement Wednesday with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, giving permission for the agency to build five light rail lines on Houston streets, but also pledging to make sure Metro does the job right.

The 13-2 approval came after weeks of discussion and questions from council members — and after Metro officials said they would reconsider plans to put part of the University line on Wheeler Avenue.

Current plans call for the University line to run on Wheeler from Main to Ennis, where it would turn north alongside Texas Southern University. Metro said access to TSU was one reason for favoring Wheeler.

Councilwoman Jolanda Jones and several residents with homes on Wheeler, a major thoroughfare of the old Third Ward area, told council Tuesday that rail would change the street's character and restrict vehicle traffic.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, asked Metro to rethink the route, saying Wheeler "has great history and is part of the fabric of the community."

Metro President and CEO Frank Wilson said council members would arrange a meeting, possibly Monday, among Metro, city officials and residents and businesses along Wheeler to hear their concerns and consider possible alternative routes.

Wilson and Jackson Lee would not say what alternative should be considered, but Metro's federally required environmental analysis compared the Wheeler route to others on Alabama and Elgin.

Done by 2012

, and along the south edge of the
University of Houston
— is part of the planned Southeast line. Metro is not planning to review it, Wilson said.

The 13-2 vote, with Jones and Councilman Mike Sullivan opposed, paves the way for Metro to break ground next month, probably starting with the East End line.

Metro says it can complete all five lines by 2012.

Council's approval also came after two portions of the agreement were removed at the request of Councilwoman Pam Holm. One would have let Metro build at its own risk in violation of city codes, rather than delay construction if the city did not grant variances promptly.

The other said Metro could terminate the project at will. Wilson said that was a remote possibility, but could occur, for instance, if the Federal Transit Administration denied funding.

At Tuesday's public session of council, several speakers urged members to reject the agreement on grounds it would restrict traffic, endanger children and the elderly, and attract too few riders to justify the cost.

On Wednesday, the mood was upbeat, although council members were clear that this would change if Metro failed to perform as promised.

"I'll say it loud and clear: No longer is the city of Houston waffling on rail," Councilman Peter Brown said. "With gas headed to $8 a gallon and oil to $200 a barrel, we have to rethink Houston as the happy motoring paradise."

The agreement includes a section on "Good Neighbor Practices" and several members said they intend to make sure Metro lives up to it.

Councilwoman Wanda Adams said the vote "will allow the process to begin, to move Houston forward," but she said she will work to see "that the community's voice is heard."

38 years of talking

Councilwoman
Ann Clutterbuck
and Councilman
Jarvis Johnson
asked whether Metro would need council's permission to change a route later, and White said it would if that involved a different street.

Councilman Adrian Garcia said. "If Metro does not pay attention to details ... the reins will be pulled, if necessary."

Anthony Hall, White's chief administrative officer, chaired the Metro board from 1990 to 1992 and as a legislator in the 1970s helped draft the law creating the agency. Since then, Hall told council, "We've got one (rail) line."

"We've obviously got to develop some kind of high-density transportation," he said, "or we will be here another 38 years, still talking about the need for better transportation."

Jones said she voted against the agreement because of the Wheeler route, as well as doubts about Metro's credibility. She also said Metro was favoring wealthy neighborhoods over less affluent ones.

Sullivan said he voted nay "because I want to see people moved around efficiently" and because some details of the five planned lines are not known. Moving a planned line 50 feet could cause major effect on lives and businesses, he said.

Metro still faces a long road. Federal funding is not guaranteed, a lawsuit challenges the plans for rail on Richmond Avenue, and Metro has yet to agree to terms with a contractor to build and operate the system.